


frozen in time

by angel_at_the_door



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: Bucky visits the museum, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Steve Needs a Hug, Steve and Bucky parallels, best kid ever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-25 14:23:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10766049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angel_at_the_door/pseuds/angel_at_the_door
Summary: Super soldiers need better disguises when visiting museums with their faces on literally every single wall.





	frozen in time

**Author's Note:**

> I felt like the little kid in the museum needed to be talked about more. I've named him Daniel.

Daniel is six years old and instantly falls in love with the story of Captain America as soon as his mother explains what the news was excited about.

He sits on the edge of the kitchen counter as she tells him about a man so strong he could lift tanks and so brave he fought for the country until he disappeared without a trace. 

"But today," she says with a smile, "they found his ship in the Arctic and he was alive."

"But Mom, he would be so old," he says, brow wrinkling in confusion.

"That's what makes him special, dear."

He grins and runs to tell his father the news.

(The world rejoices with them).

\--

He is six years old when New York needs help. He worries for Captain America's safety because he is fighting the weird-looking bad guys but only with his shield. It doesn't seem like a good weapon.

The Avengers keep fighting in New York, Captain America with his friends. He can see the Iron Man, the Hulk, the Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Thor. Thor has a hammer that can make lightning and that seems like a much better weapon than Captain America's shield, if you were to ask him. 

He is watching the news but his parents are in deep conversation, words like "SHIELD" and "Security Council" and "portal" and "nuke" floating towards him to mingle with the sounds of guns from the TV. He remembers those words. 

(He learns that sometimes a shield is the best weapon of all).

\-- 

He is nine years old and still mesmerized by Captain America, but now the story is bigger. Now Captain America is also Steve Rogers, and they are profoundly different.

(And yes, he knows the word profoundly. Peggy Carter used it in one of her speeches and anything that Peggy Carter says is important to know.)

When he reads about Captain America, there is no longer a shroud of mystery around him. Captain America is alive and so he can answer questions, which clears up a lot of Daniel's never-ending pleas for answers. 

Namely, what happened to Steve Rogers to make him Captain America?

His teacher, when prodded with question after question, gives him the fourth grade history books about World War Two and he pours over them all day.

Steve Rogers was sick and small when he signed up for the army. He was chosen because of his bravery, not his size, to be given the super serum. That was when he became Captain America and The Star Spangled Man With A Plan and Daniel can feel his admiration grow. 

\--

He is nine years old when his class goes to the Smithsonian on a field trip. No one pays attention to his desperate sprint to the Captain America exhibit, which is filled with even more information about his hero.

(He wears his Captain America shirt for the occasion.)

The exhibit is huge, filled with videos and photos and interviews and interactive games. He is not as tall as Steve Rogers and definitely not as big as Captain America, but for a moment he feels like he could take on the world with his own shield and star.

The room is full of people reading and listening, but one man catches his eye. There is a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes and his jacket collar is flipped up. He hunches in on himself and his hands are stuffed in his pockets. 

The man looks up, like he can feel Daniel watching him. They both freeze and Daniel can feel the recognition seeping into him with _shocksurpriseelation_ because this is _him_.

The man smiles, small and sad, before slowly placing his finger on his lips. _Don't give me away._

Daniel nods and watches the man - _Captain America_ \- walk towards the other room. He stops in front of the glass wall that displayed a picture of James Barnes. 

(The books didn't talk about how sad he is.)

\-- 

He is nine years old when the news says Captain America is a fugitive, a wanted man. He doesn't believe it, not even when his parents grow worried and insist that he stay home from school. 

(The man with the sad eyes would never do what they said he did.)

So when the Helicarriers crash into the river and the Black Widow proves Captain America's innocence, he is not surprised like everyone else. His hero is good and he is Not HYDRA (which is privately capitalized for _importance_ because HYDRA is the worst thing anyone can be and Captain America will never be HYDRA.)

\--

He is nine years old and convinces his family to go to the Smithsonian with him so they can see what happened to his hero. 

(Daniel wants to see _him_ again, but doesn't tell anyone because he is sworn to secrecy).

He enters the room and for a moment he thinks he sees the man again. But this new figure is hunched even lower with longer brown hair and dark eyes. He stares intently at the picture of James Barnes, mouth slightly open.

Daniel can see the similarities between the picture and the man and all of a sudden he _knows_. 

This man does not smile at him or hold a finger to his lips. But he turns at the weight of Daniel's stare and freezes. Daniel acknowledges him with a tiny thumbs up. He nods ever so slightly, the strained expression on his face carefully disappearing.

Daniel blinks and the man is swallowed up by the crowd, leaving as quickly as he came. 

(It might be time, he decides, to do some more reading.)

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> What do you think?


End file.
